A New Home
by Ashleyien
Summary: It's Tetra's first night at Log Horizon's home. Once everyone heads to bed for the night, she writes down her impressions of her guildmates and then has a little chat with Akatsuki. (Other characters are mentioned but aren't actively in the story, so I didn't add them to the list.)


Tetra-chan stood in the doorway of her new bedroom. It had a plain, wooden bed and dresser but no other furnishings. The bed sheets, floor rug and curtains were all shades of pale brown and cream. They were neutral colors that wouldn't offend anyone, but they were rather drab and boring in the new occupant's opinion.

"I hope it's okay," Minori said while she stood behind the Idol. "We just got the basics so you would have a place to sleep. You can personalize any way you want. If you want new furniture, we can move these into another room."

With a big smile and a wink, the pink-haired Cleric replied, "It's great. I've been sleeping in a tent quite a bit lately so this Idol is ecstatic about having a bed. My beauty and talent can make any room shine!"

"Umm...okay. I'm glad you like it. Goodnight," Minori replied politely before hurrying off, most likely to go downstairs to her own room.

The Bug's Light next to the Idol illuminated the otherwise dark and silent hallway. After having people around her constantly, it felt a little lonely to be suddenly alone. All the rooms on the lower floors were occupied, so she had the fourth floor to herself. Shiroe had been apologetic about it, but Naotsugu had just smiled smugly, probably glad to have a little distance between the two of them.

"It's fine! It'll be like I have my own suite! I can use one room as a closet, another to sleep in, and another as a rehearsal hall. It'll be great!" She had insisted with a big smile.

There was no way she'd admit that would be kind of lonely up here, alone. At least the building was full of people to keep her company in the daytime and she did have her own private retreat on this floor. And as Isuzu pointed out, she practically had her own private bathroom. Others could use it, of course, but unless they were doing laundry, no one spent too much time on this floor other than to walk by it on the way to the roof.

"Privacy could be a good thing," she mumbled as she closed the door and looked around the room again.

The sound of her voice was a bit of a comfort in the sudden silence. The others had decided to turn in for the night and Minori had offered to show their new guildmate to her room. Tohya had added that the four younger members had worked together to choose the furnishings. Minori's practicality had won out and it had been decided to just get the basics so that the room could be personalized by its owner.

"It is a rather drab looking room," Tetra sighed as she sat down on the rather firm bed. "The room at the inn in Susukino was nicer than this. I guess it makes sense that they didn't want to spend a lot on stuff I might not like. Hopefully they won't mind if I dump this stuff in another room and get nice, girly items. What's the fun of being a girl if I can't take advantage of it? Why go for plain and boring when I can have cute and exciting! Hmm... I think I'll have to go on a shopping trip tomorrow. I wonder how much has changed in Akiba since I was here last summer, from the rumours I've heard, there's probably a lot to check out. I wonder if anyone will come with me. Maybe the girls will help me out. Maybe Naotsugu will be a gentleman and carry my merchandise for me." She sighed and lay back on the bed. "He'll probably want to spend tomorrow with his dear Marielle-san. Maybe I can somehow talk her into going shopping with me! Naotsugu will definitely go if Marielle-san is there! It'll be fun to get him all flustered again!" She giggled and then sat up again.

Hopping off the bed she went through her belongings and pulled out a little notebook, a quill pen and some ink. Sitting back on the bed, she arranged the sheets to make it harder for the ink to tip over, and then sat cross-legged with the book on her lap. Dipping her pen into the ink, she wrote.

' _I am home. Well at a home anyway. The members of Log Horizon all seem very friendly and kind. I think I'll like it here. The building is pretty nice and it has a tree growing in the middle of it! I can climb a tree right indoors!_

' _Shiroe seems a little more relaxed than he did on the raid. I guess he isn't under quite so much pressure here, though he still seems like a pretty tense guy. He needs to loosen up a little more! That girl ninja, Akatsuki, really seems to like him. Naotsugu had mentioned it, but just the way she looks at him and follows him around makes it obvious. It's rather cute. He seems happier with her by his side but it's hard to tell if he's interested in her or not. I guess I'll have to push the matter at some point and see what happens._

' _The Werecat Chef, Nyanta, seems nice. He has an air about him that seems older and wiser than everyone. He also seems to be very classy, almost like a British gentleman, which is odd since he's most likely Japanese. Maybe he's an upper class, older gentleman. He sure can cook though! Dinner was amazing! When Naotsugu said I'd have to pull my weight around her and take my turn at chores, I feared what would happen if they made me cook since my last attempt ended in disaster. I swear, if there was an epic fail in cooking, that was it._

' _The younger members seem nice. Isuzu, Rudy and Tohya all seem to be fairly chatty. Minori seems quieter, more contemplative. Maybe she's a little shy. Serara of Crescent Moon seemed nice. She obviously has a crush on Nyanta from the way she follows him around and stares at him with adoration. I doubt that crush is a secret from anyone. The kids all seemed to be more interested in Shiroe and Naotsugu than me. Maybe they were a little shy or maybe I came on a bit too strong with that group hug (I need to surprise that ninja with a hug at some point since she managed to evade)._

' _I'm not sure if Naotsugu was happy to be home or not. I don't think he ever mentioned me to Miss Marielle since she had no clue who I was. It was kind of amusing that he kind of didn't have an answer for her. He obviously likes her, but if he likes her so much, why didn't he just shoot down my affections? Other than the random "Get off me", he doesn't seem to have a problem with having me around. I am a pretty girl who's showering him with affection after all. Maybe he enjoys it a little more than he'll admit. He could have just told Marielle that I meant nothing to him and that she was the woman he loves, but he didn't. He didn't like her assuming that I was with him, but he didn't try too hard to deny it either. I wonder why. Does he like me? Or maybe he just doesn't want to hurt my feelings. He did sneak off with Marielle for a bit. I wonder where they went and what was said. It's impossible to spy on someone when you're like the guest of honor. Well, not really the guest of honor, but people would have noticed if I left._

' _Henrietta seems pretty nice. It was kind of amusing how she was pushing Marielle to assume I was with Naotsugu. I think she might have wanted to make her friend jealous enough to declare her feelings. I guess it sort of worked because if Naotsugu wasn't sure if Marielle liked him, he should know now; the whole tug-of-war with a Guardian rope made that pretty clear (if it's not, then he's a moron)._

' _I think I'll like it here. I still feel like an outsider, but it feels more like I belong than when I was traveling with the Silver Sword or living in Susukino. Even if I kept busy and hung around others, I still didn't really belong. I don't know why, but I'm comfortable with Naotsugu. Even before we spent so much time together, we just sort of clicked. I think he's the first real friend I've made since this whole thing started. He might not know much about me, but I let him get closer than anyone else. I've kept people at a distance, afraid to get close, but I can't do that forever. I get along well with Naotsugu and I admire Shiroe, so it's clear that this is where I must be; where I belong.'_

She blotted the page and then flipped to the next one. Having finished her journal entry, she started trying to sketch out the room and how she might want to arrange it and decorate it. After about ten minutes she threw the notebook on the floor and closed the bottle of ink.

"It's so frustrating! I hate how my drawings look so...so... juvenile! Yeah, I have abilities here that I didn't have back in the other world, but when I lose abilities it's frustrating! I used to be a half decent artist but now I'm drawing on par with a grade-schooler. I guess I'll just go shopping and choose stuff I like. I can arrange it all in my head so I know what it'll look like before I buy it. At least my spatial visualization ability still works. It would be really annoying if I couldn't even visualize stuff."

Tetra pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on her knees. "I already miss Naotsugu's company. He's probably in bed. Everyone was going to bed. I'm too excited to sleep."

She looked towards the window, staring at the moon in the distance. "I think I'll move my bed under the window so I can look out at the night sky."

With that, she quickly hopped off the bed and moved it into the position so when she laid on it, she'd be in the best position to see outside. "I'll need a little night table, or something, at the head of the bed since it looks odd just sitting in the middle of the wall. I'll need to remember that when I go buy new furniture."

She was startled by a knock on the door.

"Yes? You can come in. Unless you're a vampire, then you're not allowed. This Idol won't let herself be a vampire's meal!"

"You're strange," Akatsuki announced as she stuck her head in. "It sounded like furniture moving up here. I thought I would check on you."

"Oh, your room is right underneath, isn't it? Sorry about that. I just wanted my bed next to the window," Tetra explained while twisting a piece of hair around her finger. "I forgot you were in bed. Sorry if I woke you."

"I was not sleeping yet. I was just doing a little reading before bed. I wanted to help my lord out with his reading, but he refused, saying he needed to do it himself. It is bothersome when he tries to do everything himself. He probably won't sleep much tonight."

"Yeah, I've noticed Shiroe-san tends to do that. I think it irritated Naotsugu-san that Shiroe-san didn't seem to even let him in on what he was thinking. He didn't say much about it, it's more just the feeling I got, combined with some of the stuff that he did say. Our Guild Master takes too much onto his shoulders and needs to learn to let others bear the weight with him. He seemed to learn the lesson on the raid, and then it appears he comes home and does the same thing again. Naotsugu-san did say it was Shiroe-san's bad habit."

Akatsuki nodded, "My lord does try to do too much on his own. He needs to learn to rely on others more."

Tetra slid over to the edge of her bed and put her feet on the floor. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "So why do you called Shiroe-san 'my lord'? Naotsugu-san said something about him having his own personal ninja, back up north, but I didn't really understand it."

The Assassin nodded as a proud smile appeared on her face. "Yes, I am his ninja. He saved me from a horrible fate and I could not repay him, so I have devoted myself to being his ninja."

"Oh? What sort of horrible fate did he save you from? Did he save you from someone like Demi-Demi, who was taking slaves?"

The self-proclaimed ninja shook her head and in her already familiar too serious tone answered, "No, from the horrible fate of being a man!"

Tetra face broke into smirk, which she quickly covered with a hand and started making choking noises. She vaguely remembered Naotsugu mentioning something about that back during the raid, but it was still amusing.

"Are you alright?" Akatsuki asked.

Not able to hold it back any longer, Tetra broke out into a fit of giggles and had her holding her sides and rolling on the bed.

"It is not funny! It was horrible to be stuck in a tall man's body!" the ninja insisted

"I'm sure it was," Tetra managed between giggles. Once she was able to breathe normally again, she added, "it's just that I imagined something much worse. I do have to say that being a woman is preferable to being a man but it's not like it's the end of the world. Like I told one newbie who was upset at being trapped here, it could be worse, you could have fur and a tail! Some people might welcome that but I'd prefer a gender swap over becoming a furry. I wonder how Nyanta-san felt when he first woke up here."

"Perhaps it could have been worse, but it was traumatizing," the smaller girl insisted. "I could barely move with that big body and the bathroom issues..." her voice trailed off as her face turned bright red.

Tetra covered her mouth as she giggled. "I guess that would be a little uncomfortable. Just be glad that you don't wear pants with a front zipper! Zippers and no underwear could be painful if you're not careful!"

Akatsuki couldn't help but smile, though she did shake her head. "What kind of Idol talks like that?"

"Hey! You sound like Naotsugu-san! I speak my mind! It's part of my charm," she replied with a wink. She was glad that she managed to get Akatsuki to crack a bit of a smile. "It would have been funny if Mr. Open Pervert had a zipper on his pants back in the pre-underwear days. I'm sure he would have caught himself several times!"

Akatsuki's smirked and shook her head again, "You are a strange Idol, though the thought of the Perv-tsugu in self-inflicted pain is amusing. I guess you're right, it could have been worse, but it was not pleasant. I would not want to spend the rest of my life as a man, especially since the Roderick Firm has discovered that those whose genders here do not match theirs back in the other world, are changing. Their voices and personalities are changing to match their gender here. I would not like to start thinking like a man, men can be disgusting, just look at Naotsugu. I would never want to think like him."

"Yeah, some men can be jerks, but they're not all bad. Naotsugu-san can be a sweetheart and a softy, if you know how to handle him."

"Handle him? He keeps telling you to get off him."

The Idol waved her hand dismissively. "He's all talk and no bite. He likes it when I sit on him, he just pretends not to."

"Umm…"

"Don't worry about it. If he really wanted me down, he'd try harder."

"I thought he was trying pretty hard when he was trying to talk to Marie and you were climbing all over him."

"It's fine. Marielle-san will just want him more if he's popular with the ladies. I knew several boys in school who enjoyed it when ladies fought over them; it boosted their ego."

"I don't think Naotsugu needs his ego boosted. Anyway, that's between you and him. I'm going to bed. Please refrain from moving any more furniture."

"Okay. Goodnight, Akatsuki-san. It was nice chatting with you."

"Goodnight Tetra-san," the little ninja simply said as she turned and left, closing the door behind her.

The petite Idol hopped off her bed, changed into some warm and comfortable pajamas, and then crawled under the sheets.

"Goodnight, Log Horizon, my new home."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** All characters here were created by Touno Mamare. As little is known about Tetra (and she's my favourite character) I take a lot of liberties with her, hopefully they aren't too far-fetched. I have all of the Log Horizon members and some of the Crescent Moon Alliance members mentioned in this story, but I only listed the names of those actually appearing at the present time. Sorry for any errors that might appear, I tried my best to catch everything.


End file.
